As Peter King first reported earlier today, the NFL has agreed to pay out $765 million over 20 years to settle the concussion lawsuit brought by 4,500 former players. (More will likely be added to settle the players legal fees.) Lots of people have pointed out that $765 million is less than 10 percent of the NFL's roughly $9 billion in annual revenue, and Peter King thinks these people are dumb:
So, will $765 million make a dent in the NFL's coffers? Well, if the NFL keeps generating $9 billion in annual revenue for the next 20 years, which is a very conservative estimate given the growth of the league, it would bring in $180 billion by the time the concussion money was all paid out. Obviously revenue isn't the same as profit, but the league isn't exactly scraping by. Here's what $180 billion looks like against $765 million, with each stack of bills representing $250 million:
Hey, $765 million is kind of a steal! It will come out to $150,000-$170,000 per plantiff, $38 million per year, and an affordable $76.5 million per every known concussion that Troy Aikman had. Chump change? Yeah, pretty much.